


Guessing Game

by peachcitt



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bad Pick-Up Lines, COVID-19 AU, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Human Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug), Human Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug), Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Umbrella Scene (Miraculous Ladybug), basically everything in canon is the same EXCEPT no miraculous and it's happening in the real world, canon-typical identity shenanigans, no one gets sick, they're just working at a cafe during the lockdown i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26145430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachcitt/pseuds/peachcitt
Summary: So, it’s not like Adrien believed in love at first sight.However,when Ladybug idly reached over to the tip jar and accidentally knocked it over with her hand, sending coins and notes flying, and then proceeded to let out a startled and guilty sort of cry from the back of her throat, desperately trying to gather the coins with her apron before they fell to the floor, Adrien felt a stab of affection go through his chest that was so strong he could’ve mistaken it for love. Or a stroke.ormarinette and adrien start working at the wildnerness cafe - a cafe in which their fun animal aliases are takenveryseriously
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 74
Kudos: 357
Collections: Stuff I liked





	Guessing Game

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone!! this fic is based off of [this art](https://anna-scribbles.tumblr.com/post/624342423794040833/uhh-non-superhero-au-where-marinette-and-adrien) by [anna-scribbles!](https://anna-scribbles.tumblr.com/) please give the art and the artist some love because she certainly deserves it!!!
> 
> ALSO special thanks to [deinde-prandium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deinde_prandium/pseuds/deinde_prandium) for betaing!! go check out her works she's fantastic
> 
> also note about this au: i wrote this as everything in canon is exactly the same except for the fact that there are no miraculouses. so adrien and mari met the same way and they still go to school together!
> 
> without further ado, please enjoy :)

_In these unprecedented times, it’s important to-_

Marinette closed out of the email, leaning back in her chair and letting out a sigh. She rubbed her hands over her eyes, glancing over at the trapdoor to her room. She could hear her parents talking downstairs - the words were all quiet and blurred together, but she knew what they were talking about. 

The bakery. The pandemic. The lockdown.

She sighed again, looking at her email inbox, full of emails from her teachers explaining how classes might work once the break ended. She clicked on the next unread email, the one from the school district.

_We hope this message finds you and your family well._

When she exited out of that one, her inbox refreshed, revealing another email.

She frowned. It couldn’t be from school - it was nearly midnight.

The subject line simply said _‘Thought you might be interested.’_ The sender was that nice old man who ran the clinic two streets over - the one Marinette had delivered a cake to back in January and had ended up helping organize all of his books and pens because she’d had some free time. She’d given him her email just because he had seemed a little lonely, and he really _was_ a nice old man. She’d said if he ever needed anything, then he could message her.

It had only been a few months ago, but so much had happened since then that she’d nearly forgotten.

She opened up the email, which seemed to be a forwarded flyer about some sort of animal-themed cafe looking for part time employees who could work inside and handle the pick-up orders. Customer service experience preferred. 

Her trapdoor creaked open, her mom peeking her head through. “Marinette, sweetie, I know it’s late, but do you want to come down for a family talk?”

“Yeah, Maman,” Marinette said, glancing back at the flyer before putting her computer to sleep. 

  
  


\---

  
  


Adrien’s phone pinged, telling him that he had a new email. He fumbled for his phone, eyes not leaving the slow moving clouds outside his window. 

_Count your blessings. Share your blessings._

Adrien tossed his phone back onto his couch, not even bothering to read more. He had gotten about twelve of those emails in the past twelve hours. Brands he’d worked with in the past begging him to donate, to advertise, to count his blessings because he was locked in a big, empty house.

And that was fine. 

Later, when he had the motivation to do anything other than stare at the clouds, he’d post a selfie on his Instagram story with a _‘feeling stir-crazy, how about you?’_ caption, retweet the _‘in these unprecedented times’_ tweets brands he’d worked with in the past had made, reply to fan DMs asking about his safety. He’d do that later.

There was a knock on the door.

“It’s open,” he called, not taking his eyes off the clouds. Based off of the precise _clicks_ of heels on the floor, it was Nathalie. Adrien finally sat up, taking his feet off the armrest and peeking over the edge of the couch to look at her.

“You received a letter,” she said, walking over to the couch and holding an envelope out to him. 

He raised an eyebrow. “Fan mail?”

She shook her head. “It looks personal.” She handed him the envelope, clasping her hands behind her back. “Dinner will be ready in an hour.” And with that, she left.

“Cool,” Adrien said, although he doubted she heard him. He laid back on the couch, propping his feet up on the armrest again. 

He held the envelope at arms length, squinting at it. The handwriting was neat and familiar - so was the return address.

Tearing open the envelope, he took out the brightly colored flyer, folded in thirds. It seemed to be advertising for a cafe - at the bottom, it had the words _‘now hiring!’_ in bold letters. The sender had stuck a sticky note next to the words. 

_‘An excuse to get out of the house,’_ read the sticky note. _‘Say it’s for PR. - Fu’_

Master Fu - Adrien’s old Chinese instructor. No wonder the handwriting had looked familiar; Adrien had spent many hours staring at the same handwriting, albeit mostly in Chinese characters, only just a few years ago. Adrien had skipped basketball practice one day to go help Fu when he’d sent an email to Adrien cancelling their lesson for that day because he’d fallen ill. Of course, when Adrien had gotten home that day after making Fu some foul-tasting but well-meaning chicken soup, his father had fired Fu. He didn’t like it much when Adrien got too attached to his instructors back then.

Adrien stared at the flyer. 

It’s not like he’d be working with any brands for the time being - his father’s included. He wondered if his father would let him leave the house.

“Imagine how this would make the Agreste Brand look,” he practiced saying to the clouds outside his window. 

  
  


\---

  
  


“Welcome to the Wilderness Cafe!” Marinette greeted, smiling behind her red and black polka-dotted mask at the woman coming in to pick up her lunch order. “What was the name for the order?”

“Fleur,” the woman said, adjusting her mask. 

Marinette turned around, checking the tags on each of the waiting orders on the counter behind her. When she found the right one, she turned back to the woman, who was looking around the cafe with a funny look on her face. 

“Here’s your order, ma’am,” Marinette said, handing the woman her bag.

“Thanks,” the woman said, and Marinette saw her eyes flicking down to the nametag pinned to Marinette’s apron. “Ladybug?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Marinette grimaced, mentally hoping her squinted eyes looked enough like a smile. “Yeah, here at the Wilderness Cafe, you’re served by members of the animal kingdom itself!”

The woman tilted her head to the side. “Are you actually part of the animal kingdom?” she asked, furrowing her eyebrows. “You know, being a bug and all?”

“Yes,” Marinette said with a surety she did not feel. Biology was not her strongest subject.

The woman left a minute later, and Marinette squirted a dime-sized amount of strawberry-scented hand sanitizer in her hands, rubbing it all in before dropping her head in her hands.

It had been a week since she’d started at the cafe, and it hadn’t gotten any less weird. Maybe before the pandemic, when customers could sit inside at the tables and booths and were waited on by cleverly dressed staff, the gimmick was a little more on-the-nose. Now, with just a ladybug-ish mask and a nametag, it was maybe a little hard to understand in two-minute interactions.

But that was fine. All in all, the job wasn’t that bad - very straightforward and relatively easy. And the pay was more than enough to justify staying.

“Ladybug!” 

Marinette stood up straight, looking back toward the kitchen area, where one of her bosses, Tikki, had just emerged. “Hey, Ms. Tikki,” she said, and Tikki waved her hand flippantly.

“Oh, you know you can just call me Tikki,” she said, pumping some of the strawberry hand sanitizer in her hands and rubbing it in, grinning at her. “Guess what.”

“What?” Marinette asked.

“Plagg hired someone else!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together and hopping a little. “So once that person starts, you can come work in the kitchen with me. Isn’t that so fun?” She took Marinette’s hands and spun her around.

Marinette laughed. “Yeah, so fun,” she said. Tikki beamed at her, squeezing her hands once more before letting go. “Where is Plagg, anyway?” she asked, and Tikki shrugged.

“Probably taking a nap in the office.” She didn’t seem at all concerned or upset by this, instead continuing to dance back to the kitchen. “So exciting,” she said, seemingly to herself, and Marinette smiled.

  
  


\---

  
  


Adrien’s new boss, a man of unidentifiable age who maybe came up to Adrien’s shoulder when standing, squinted at him. “Chat Noir,” he finally said, and Adrien blinked.

“Tikki said I could choose my own animal,” he said, and Plagg leaned back in his chair, giving him a half-hearted shrug.

“You’re already wearing the mask, kid. This just makes things easier.”

He supposed that was his fault for wearing his black mask with the green nose and whiskers to his first day at an animal-themed cafe. 

“Okay,” he said, smiling a little. “Chat Noir it is.”

“Cool,” Plagg said, yawning and stretching before putting his feet up on his chair and smacking his lips. “Ladybug has been manning the front counter for the past week, so she can teach you what that’s like before she moves to the kitchen.”

“Ladybug,” Adrien repeated, and Plagg nodded, picking at a loose thread on his slacks.

“Yeah. That girl who was working the front counter. Her.”

“But, like, what’s her real name?” Adrien had seen her when he first came in - a pretty sort of girl with dark hair and blue eyes wearing a red and black polka-dotted mask. “So I can, um. Be prepared to talk to her.”

Plagg raised his eyebrows. Adrien blushed.

“Look, _Chat Noir,”_ Plagg said, putting a weird emphasis on Adrien’s new alias and dropping his feet back to the ground, “here at the Wilderness Cafe we take our identities _very_ seriously.”

“Then how come you and Tikki don’t have animal names?”

“Irrelevant,” Plagg said, waving his hand. “Tikki thinks it’s fun if everyone only knows each other by the animal nicknames. That’s just how it is.”

“Well,” Adrien said, shifting in his seat. “What do _you_ think about it?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Plagg said with a shrug, batting a pen between his hands on the desk. “Tikki likes it, and that’s that. Get it?”

“Got it,” Adrien said, despite the fact that he didn’t.

“Good. Now go learn with Ladybug. I’m due for my afternoon nap.”

“It’s nine in the morning?”

“Yeah. Nap time. Now go.”

“Okay,” Adrien said, standing up and walking over to the door of the office. He glanced back at Plagg, who made a shooing motion with his hands. Adrien left the office.

He walked to the front of the cafe, catching sight of Ladybug, his apparent new teacher, leaning on the counter and cradling her head in her hands. She had one ankle crossed over the other, her foot tapping out a beat that only she could hear.

So, it’s not like Adrien believed in love at first sight. 

_However,_ when Ladybug idly reached over to the tip jar and accidentally knocked it over with her hand, sending coins and notes flying, and then proceeded to let out a startled and guilty sort of cry from the back of her throat, desperately trying to gather the coins with her apron before they fell to the floor, Adrien felt a stab of affection go through his chest that was so strong he could’ve mistaken it for love. Or a stroke.

“Need help?” he asked, and she yelped, letting the corners of her apron drop out of her fingertips. Coins clattered onto the floor.

She stared down at the coins on the floor, eyes wide. She looked over at him. “Did you see all of that?”

Adrien felt a smile pull at his lips. He shrugged. “Not if you didn’t want me to.”

She seemed to think for a moment. “If I said that I didn’t want you to see it, would you still help me pick everything up?”

“Pick what up?” Adrien asked, blinking blankly at her. She gave him the beginnings of a glare. “As you can see,” he said, grabbing the tip jar off the counter and crouching down, “there’s absolutely nothing on the floor.” He dropped three coins into the jar, looking up at her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Ladybug crouched down, too, shaking her head and beginning to pick up the coins with him. “You’re a real comedian, aren’t you?” she said sarcastically.

“Nah,” he said. “But I am a fake one.”

That earned him a snort. He smiled.

When they had finished putting all of the tips in the jar, they stood up, sanitizing their hands and putting the jar back in its place.

“So,” Ladybug said, crossing her arms and looking over at him. “What are you supposed to be?”

“Besides a comedian, you mean?” Adrien asked, and she rolled her eyes. “A cat,” he said, gesturing to his black and green cat-themed mask. “Obviously.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Why is it black and green?”

“I’m a… black and green cat.”

“Radioactive,” she said, and Adrien nodded.

“Radioactive,” he agreed. They stared at each other for a moment. “My, uh, official name is Chat Noir, I think.”

“I’m Ladybug,” she said, pointing to her name tag. “I would shake your hand, but…” She gestured vaguely around them, presumably at the greater world in general, and Adrien nodded.

“Well, it’s an absolute pleasure to meet you, Ladybug.” He gave her an elaborate bow, and she laughed, curtsying back.

“Let me get you a name tag and an apron,” she said, standing up straight and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Welcome aboard, Chat.”

  
  


\---

  
  


“Smile!” Tikki said, and Marinette blinked at the flash of Tikki’s phone camera before setting down the pan of a freshly baked personal quiche.

“I don’t think I was smiling,” Marinette said, taking off her oven mitts and looking over at Tikki.

“It doesn’t matter; you look _adorable,”_ Tikki said, looking down at her phone and presumably typing out a caption for the next Wilderness Cafe Instagram post. “Now I have to get a good one of Chat.”

Marinette raised her eyebrows. “Haven’t you already gotten multiple pictures of him today?”

“Yeah, but it’s _super_ weird,” Tikki said, looking up from her phone _._ “For some reason every picture I take just looks too staged. Like he’s purposefully modelling or something.”

“Knowing him, he just might be,” Marinette said with a roll of her eyes, taking a spatula and carefullying separating the edges of the quiche from the pan.

“I know!” Tikki exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “Go out there and talk to him.”

“What?”

“Go, go, go!” Tikki said, trying to shoo her out of the kitchen.

“But what about the quiche?”

“I’ll finish it up, don’t even worry about it,” she said, and then she pushed Marinette out the door. For someone so small, she was actually quite strong, and Marinette ended up stumbling into the counter.

“Careful, LB,” Chat said, gentle hand touching her elbow as if to help steady her. His bright eyes were all squinty in that way that meant he was about to say something both cringey and charming. “Wouldn’t want to fall for me, would you?”

“Oh, my God,” Marinette said, rolling her eyes so hard she was afraid they might get stuck looking at her brain. “That was bad. You know that was bad, right?”

“One of these days I’ll say one that you’ll like,” he said, stepping away from her with an easy shrug and leaning against the counter.

“I really doubt that,” Marinette said, shaking her head with a laugh. “I don’t think anyone could ever convince me to go out on a date with a cheesy pick up line. That goes against all my moral codes.”

“And that’s very sad,” Chat said, crossing his arms. “Everyone should be able to appreciate the genius of a cheesy pick up line.”

“See? Even _you_ think they’re cheesy.”

“Well, Plagg isn’t the only one in this cafe who likes some real good cheese every now and then,” he said, and then he wrinkled his nose. “He can keep the camembert, though. That stuff is _foul.”_

 _“Anyways,”_ Marinette said, glancing back at the kitchen door. Tikki was nowhere in sight. She turned back to Adrien. “Uh, Tikki wanted me to come out and check on you. You know, see how you’re doing.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” Chat said, touching a hand to his chest and batting his eyelashes. Marinette rolled her eyes, and he laughed. “But really, everything is going okay,” he continued, relaxing a little, his eyes squinting into an easy sort of smile, the one that Marinette knew was genuine. “Although a little lonely, you know? No one can stick around for too long, and so I’m just out here making ketchup towers.”

“Ketchup towers,” Marinette repeated, and he nodded. They looked at each other. She sighed. “Alright, I’ll bite. Show me one of your ketchup towers.”

“I’m _so_ glad you asked,” he said, moving to the side and gesturing proudly to the actually quite impressive structure of ketchup packets he’d been hiding behind him. “This latest one I made in under twenty minutes, which, I’ll have you know, is actually really impressive because you’d be surprised by how much the little packets want to slide off each other.”

Marinette leaned forward, looking at all the ketchup before looking back at Chat. “It’s more of a pyramid, actually.”

“Ketchup tower is so much more catchy.”

“Yeah, because ketchup towers are really going to catch on,” she said sarcastically.

“Got it!” Tikki exclaimed, and Marinette jumped, although she tried to hide it from Chat. Judging by his smile at her, he saw it anyway. She wished he could see that she was sticking her tongue out at him. “Got another one!”

“What exactly did you get?” Chat asked, giving Marinette one last smile before looking back at Tikki.

“I’ve been trying to get pictures of you two for the Instagram,” Tikki said, walking over to them and looking down at her phone, “and I finally got a couple that I really like.” She looked up at them, her smile glittering in her eyes. “Do you want to see?”

“Of course,” Chat said, and Tikki turned her phone around to show them.

They were good photos, of course. Tikki had a real talent for finding the right angle and lighting to make the whole thing look both professional and candid. 

“I like them,” Chat said, voice soft, and he looked back up at Tikki, eyes bright. “I didn’t know this cafe had an Instagram.”

“It sure does!” Tikki said, finishing up the caption on the post before looking back at them. “Actually, it’s pretty popular. That’s one of the reasons I like for you two to keep your names a secret. We’ve had problems in the past of former employees getting a _little_ too popular on Instagram, you know?”

“I get it,” Chat said, nodding. “It can be a little overwhelming to be in the spotlight.” Marinette raised her eyebrows at him. He smiled. “Still though. I don’t understand why me and Ladybug aren’t allowed to know each other’s names.”

Tikki hummed, tapping her finger to her chin. “Because it’s fun?”

“Hm. Okay.” Chat steepled his fingers, squinting at Tikki. “Theoretically, if I were to guess Ladybug’s name correctly, would that be alright?”

Marinette saw Tikki’s eyes sparkle. “Theoretically, I think that would be a very fun game,” Tikki said.

“I think so, too,” Chat said, turning his head to Marinette. “Right… Lucy?”

“That’s not my name,” Marinette said with a snort.

“Oh, my apologies, Lucielle.”

“Still not my name.”

“Libby?” he asked, and Marinette rolled her eyes.

“I’m going back to the kitchen.”

  
  


\---

  
  


Adrien scrolled listlessly through his Instagram feed, his head hanging over the edge of the bed. In a minute he’d have to get up and actually try and fix his hair so that he’d look nice for the Skype interview he was going to have with a magazine, but he could do nothing for a minute longer.

He wanted to go to work.

And not- not modelling or interviews or whatever. He wanted to go to the actual work he _liked._ With Ladybug.

Whose real name, he’d discovered, was _not_ Lauren, Lillian, Lily, Layla, Laylani, Lydia, Lela, Lexie, or Lenora.

Whose real name, he’d realized, he really, _really_ wanted to know.

Pulling up the official Wilderness Cafe Instagram, Adrien scrolled through the most recent posts. There were a few of just him, standing by the front counter, building his ketchup towers, shooting finger guns at the camera. And there were ones with just Ladybug.

Tikki (and, to a lesser extent, Plagg) was very dedicated to taking only candid pictures, but even still, every picture that Ladybug was in, she just looked… absolutely perfect. The one of her taking cookies out of the oven, the one of her icing cupcakes, the one of her standing with her back turned and her hands on her hips in satisfaction, presumably looking at the finished gourmet sandwich she’d just made. 

And it wasn’t even that she was pretty - which, of course she was. Adrien had died a thousand little deaths every time he’d managed to make her eyes squint in one of her adorable little smiles, but it was also just that she was so genuine. So sweet. She took his jokes in stride and never treated him any different. He was pretty sure she even thought he was astoundingly lame, and that fact was strangely liberating alongside the fact that she still stood by him at the counter during slow hours and talked with him and laughed with him like it was something she _wanted_ to do. Just because.

He found the first post Tikki had made of the two of them together. The first picture was of them talking, standing a few feet away from each other at the counter. She had been saying something sarcastic to him, arms crossed and eyebrows raised, and Adrien had just been looking at her, smiling. The next picture was where Tikki had called out to them, and Ladybug had jumped nearly out of her skin - her surprise was right there in the picture, eyes wide, shoulders up to her ears. And the last picture was when she’d looked at him, as if trying to check if he’d noticed - which, of course he had, he’d been looking at her the whole time - and then glaring at him when she’d seen him trying to hold back his laughter. 

Adrien was probably in-

Well. Adrien liked her.

“I knocked, but you didn’t answer,” Nathalie said, and Adrien looked away from his phone to look up at her. She tilted her head at him, and Adrien rolled over so she wasn’t upside-down. “Your face looks red. Do you have a fever?”

“Um, no,” Adrien said, bringing a hand up and feeling his heated cheeks. “I was just. You know. Upside-down. Blood rushing up to my head. You know.”

Nathalie stared at him for a moment longer, obviously concerned. “Your interview is in ten minutes. Let me know if you feel any worse.”

“Thanks, Nathalie,” Adrien said, flattening his hair. Her eyes didn’t leave him. He gave her a soft smile. “I’m alright, Nathalie. I promise.”

“Okay,” she said, nodding resolutely. “Don’t be late for your interview.”

“Got it.” Nathalie left his room, and Adrien glanced down at his phone. The picture of Ladybug’s pretty glaring face stared back at him.

He wanted to know her.

  
  


\---

  
  


Marinette locked the front door of the cafe, stretching her arms above her head and letting out a sigh. Chat was wiping down the front counter, and she walked over, grabbing one of the disinfectant wipes to start to wipe down the door. Chat yawned.

“I’m pretty tired, honestly,” he said, shaking his head and scrubbing hard with the wipe at a spot on the counter. “What about you, Leslie?”

“Still not my name,” Marinette said, walking back to the door and scrubbing the door handle with the wipe. “And I’m pretty okay. Not too tired.”

“Wow, I can’t believe it,” he said, and she glanced back at him, raising her eyebrows. 

“Why not?”

“Well, it’s just that you’ve been running through my mind all day. I’m honestly in awe of your stamina.”

Marinette turned her face back to the door, shaking her head. “That was cheesy,” she said, ignoring the way her heart thumped a little more loudly than usual. She was probably just- probably just experiencing totally normal and not at all romance-induced heart palpitations.

“Admit it. You liked that one.” She didn’t even have to look at him to see the smugness on his face - she could hear in his voice.

She didn’t say anything, scrubbing frustratedly at the door. Stupid cat.

He gasped extremely loudly. “You _did!_ Oh, my lady, you’re falling for me already, I can _tell-”_

“Whatever!” she interrupted, throwing her hands up and looking back at him. Her face felt a little hot. “It was still bad, and I’m _not_ falling for you over a pick up line.”

“It’s okay to admit you’re falling for me over my devilishly good looks and charming personality, too,” he said, and Marinette groaned.

“I’m not doing _that_ either, I already-” She stopped, her face getting a little redder.

“You already what? You already love me? _Oh,_ Ladybug, well in that case-” He was laughing - cute, stupid laughing. The kind of laugh that interrupted his words and was more than a little contagious. Marinette could see that his cheeks were red, and his eyes were squinted shut, and Marinette should’ve just said that it was bad, but she hated lying, and now she was watching Chat laugh all stupid and nice, and it was _fine._ Everything was fine.

“Don’t get a big head,” she grumbled, and Chat wiped a tear from his eye, taking in a gasping breath. “It wasn’t even that good.”

“Yes, but _you_ liked it,” he said, his voice still tinted with the after effect of his laughter. “And that’s what matters.”

Marinette let out a breath, leaning her forehead against the glass of the door. She was going insane.

  
  


\---

  
  


“Hey,” Adrien said, popping his head into the kitchen. Ladybug was leaning against the counter, frowning down at her phone. “LB?” he asked, and she looked up from her phone, a worried line still etched between her eyebrows.

“Hm?” 

Adrien raised his eyebrows, walking into the kitchen and leaning against the counter next to her. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, though she sounded a little unsure. He tilted his head at her.

“You know if you need to talk about something, I’m more than willing to listen,” he said gently, and her expression softened.

“Thanks,” she said, and then she glanced down at her phone and sighed. “It’s really not that big of a deal, I just…” She trailed off, waving her phone at him absently. “This fashion magazine that I really like just released an interview with” - she paused, her eyebrows furrowing once more - “someone I really care about.”

“And what does the interview say?” he asked, leaning down to catch her eye.

Her crystal blue eyes searched his for a moment before she sighed. “It said that he’s been out working as an essential worker almost since the beginning of lockdown,” she said, locking her phone and dropping it in her apron pocket. “I’m… I’m really worried about him, you know?”

“Oh,” Adrien said, leaning back a little bit. “You’re worried he’ll get sick?”

“Among other things,” she said with a shrug.

“Well, if he’s careful, then it should probably be fine, right? I mean, both you and I have been working here since lockdown, and we’re okay.”

“Yeah, but it’s different,” she said, pushing herself away from the counter and pacing around the kitchen. “I mean, he comes from a really well-off family, and he doesn’t really need to go outside right now. He’s just doing it because he’s just a really good person and so hardworking and-” She cut herself off, clearing her throat. “And I’m only here because I _have_ to be, you know? Not that I don’t like working here with you and Tikki and Plagg, but I would much rather be staying inside.” She paused, hugging her arms around herself and looking off to the side. “Maybe it’s not accurate to say that I _have_ to be here. My parents told me I didn’t have to and that we would manage, but I just. I wanted to help out, you know? And I wanted them to be safe.”

“That makes sense,” Adrien said, and she let her arms drop down to her sides. Adrien watched her face, his stomach churning with a lot of different emotions.

It’s not like he never thought about what the pandemic meant for everyone - how could he _not_ think about it? It was just that-

Well, it was just that this was personal. Ladybug was one of the only people he saw regularly and in person. He had no idea her family might’ve been in financial trouble because of the lockdown. 

“I’m sorry,” Ladybug said, sighing and shaking her head. “I know I’m being kind of dramatic, and I really don’t mean to bring you down or anything.”

“It’s alright, my lady,” Adrien said with a little laugh. “Everyone’s allowed their fair share of dramatics right now. We _are_ in a pandemic, after all.”

“Yeah,” she said, her eyes scrunching up with a soft smile. “I guess you’re right.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Adrien said, clearing his throat, “who is the guy you’re worried about? I mean, he must be pretty important to be interviewed by one of your favorite magazines.”

Ladybug turned her face away. Adrien could’ve sworn he saw her cheeks redden. “You have to promise not to laugh.”

Adrien smiled. He held up his hand, offering his pinky to her. “Air pinky swear I won’t laugh.”

She squinted her eyes at him, holding up her pinky finger, too. “Air pinky swears are just as sacred as regular ones, Chat. You better not break it.”

“I’m air pinky swearing on my life,” Adrien promised, and they dropped their hands. He raised his eyebrows at her. She sighed.

“It’s Adrien Agreste.”

Adrien blinked. Felt himself start to smile. Fought to keep a laugh from escaping his throat. “Hm,” he said, trying and failing to sound nonchalant.

Ladybug glared at him. “You want to laugh.”

“Well, as I recall, I air pinky swore on my life,” Adrien said, stuffing his hands in his apron pockets and ducking his head, “so I can’t even imagine doing such a thing.”

“Right, right, whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes and pressing her hands to her cheeks. “What did you come in here for, anyway?”

“Just to tell you that I think there might be something wrong with my eyes,” he said, rubbing absently at his eyes. 

She dropped her hands to her side, her eyebrows furrowing. “What’s wrong with them?”

“Well, it’s just the strangest thing,” he said, shaking his head and feeling a grin pull at his lips as he looked over at her. “I can’t seem to take them off of you.”

“Oh, my _God,”_ she said, throwing her hands up. “I should’ve known. Tikki and Plagg have been gone on a supply run for not even five minutes yet, and now I’m suffering from your bad pick up lines in the kitchen.” She shook her head, but her eyes were glittering with a smile. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m _kidding,”_ Adrien said. “Sort of.” She rolled her eyes. “But really, I came in here to ask you where Plagg put the extra hand sanitizer. We’re running low in the front.”

  
  


\---

  
  


“Tikki’s not going to be in until later, so I’m taking over the kitchen,” Plagg said, tying an apron around his waist and yawning. “You go work outside with Chat.”

“Are you sure?” Marinette asked, raising her eyebrows. “I mean, it’s only the first day of the outdoor seating area being open, so I don’t think it’ll be that crowded-”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Plagg said, rubbing his hands over his eyes and glaring up at the ceiling. “Unfortunately.”

“Well, if you need any help with anything-”

“Go on, Ladybug,” Plagg said, making shooing motions with his hands. “I’m fine. I’m the co-owner of this place, after all.”

“Alright,” Marinette said, starting to back out of the kitchen. “But if you need me-”

“Go on,” Plagg repeated, and Marinette laughed.

“Okay, okay, I’m going,” she said, finally leaving the kitchen. 

Now that she knew she would be working outside, she took out her customary pigtails and gathered her hair into a bun high up on her head, tucking the stray hair that hung by her cheeks behind her ears and running her fingers through her bangs.

She walked out into the outdoor seating area, looking around before she found Chat, wiping down menus by the drink station. 

“Morning, kitty,” she said, grabbing one of the wet wipes by him to go and start wiping down one of the tables before they officially opened.

“M-morning,” Chat replied, and she raised her eyebrows, looking back at him.

He was standing frozen by the counter, menu still in hand, bright green eyes wide as he stared at her. She tilted her head at him.

“Cat got your tongue?” she asked, and he blinked. His eyes started to glitter with a smile.

“More like ladybug, actually,” he replied, and she laughed.

Bad jokes aside, they finished wiping down all the tables and menus just in time for opening. In the morning, there were mostly just people dropping in for an espresso or a croissant before continuing on their way, but by lunch a few small groups of people stayed to sit down at the tables. 

Even still, it was nothing overwhelming. She and Chat just went around checking on everyone’s drinks and food orders, going back inside after every stop to wash their hands. After Marinette dropped off a table’s food, she walked back over to the door leading inside, food tray balanced easily on her hip.

“L...Lizzie!” Chat exclaimed, and Marinette stopped, shaking her head at him.

“No,” she said, and he leaned his elbows on the counter, pausing in wiping down the menus from the tables that had just been vacated to put his hands together and point them at her.

“Lana,” he tried, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

“You know, just because my work name is Ladybug doesn’t mean my real name _has_ to start with an ‘L,’” she said. He’d been guessing for weeks and had lately been grasping at straws for ‘L’ names. She was half convinced he’d checked one of those baby names websites when his imagination had run out.

“I know that,” Chat said, sounding a little bit like he hadn’t known that.

“Yeah, sure,” Marinette said, and he snapped his fingers.

“Lorelai!”

“Quit it with the ‘L’ names,” Marinette said with a laugh, walking inside and shaking her head.

After washing her hands, she went back out to the seating area. One of the tables flagged her down, and she walked over, tucking the food tray behind her back and smiling. 

“Can we get our check please?” one of the women asked, and Marinette nodded.

“Of course! I can bring it out real fast for you guys.” She started to turn around but the woman called her back.

“Actually, we had one more question.” She glanced over at the other woman at the table, and they seemed to share a look. “Of course, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but we were wondering if…” She trailed off a little helplessly.

“We were wondering if you and the other server were dating,” the other woman finished, and Marinette blinked.

“Um.”

“See? I told you it was too invasive,” the first woman said, reaching across the table and giving the other woman a smack on the shoulder.

“What? She doesn’t have to answer” - she broke off, giving Marinette a very sweet and sympathetic look - “really, love, you don’t have to answer - but you two are really cute with each other, you know? That’s all.”

“Thanks?” Marinette said, and then she cleared her throat. She was feeling oddly warm and sweaty - more so than before. “Uh. I’m going to grab your check.”

She hurried away before they could say anything else, dropping the food tray with a clang on the countertop next to Chat. He looked over at her as she fumed at the register, trying to pull up the appropriate check for the table.

“You okay, bug?” Chat asked, lowering his voice and leaning in. Marinette pulled up the wrong table’s check for the third time, and she sighed, dragging her hands over the cash register and making a noise in the back of her throat. Chat tilted his head. “Geez, what did the cash register ever do to you?”

“Nothing,” Marinette said, dropping her head. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, bumping his hip with hers. She glanced over at him. He raised his eyebrows imploringly.

“It’s nothing.”

“If it’s nothing then you wouldn’t be upset about it,” he said gently, and her heart skipped a beat.

“I’m not really upset,” she said, waving her hand and scratching her nail on the edge of the touch screen. “I’m just…” She trailed off, looking back at him. At his very pretty and very soft green eyes. “Confused.”

He blinked. “Did you forget how to work the cash register?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

“Oh, my God,” she said, throwing her hands up. “Can you just get the check for that table? And give it to them for me?” she asked, waving vaguely in the direction of the table she meant in a way that she hoped wasn’t too obvious.

“Of course,” he said, and she backed away from the cash register, grabbing a wipe and scrubbing at the counter just so that she wouldn’t have to look at him.

It’s not like-

Well, it’s not like Chat wasn’t attractive, per se. She had literally only ever seen half of his face, but he had green eyes, well groomed eyebrows, golden hair, and, if she was being honest, he was a really nice height. She wasn’t _blind._

It’s just that. Adrien still existed. He was still just as sweet and kind and pretty as ever, based off the weekly Zoom call she and her friends had a couple days ago, and _also_ based off the weekly Zoom call a couple of days ago, her crush was still going nice and strong. And that was fine.

Working with Chat was fun. She liked him. They were friends.

Just friends.

And that was fine.

Chat returned to the counter, holding the table’s check and card, looking over at her with a puzzled expression on his face. “They, uh. They tipped thirty percent. They also told me to tell you that they say sorry.”

Marinette stopped scrubbing the same spot she’d been scrubbing for the past minute and a half. Stood up straight. “Thirty percent?”

“Yeah,” Chat said, glancing down at the receipt as if to check that he was right. He started to go through the process of paying for their order. “What happened?”

She leaned her hip on the counter, crossing her arms and watching him as he tapped in the order with his long and thin fingers - fingers for playing the piano. Watched a stray breeze ruffle through the golden strands of his hair. Watched his emerald green eyes glance over at her, concerned and soft. She shrugged. “Nothing thirty percent can’t fix.”

He finished up the order, tucking the card in the receipt. He looked over her, as if trying to check if she was telling the truth, and then he gave her a small smile. “Alright… Madeline?”

She laughed. “Nope.”

Just friends.

That was fine.

Really.

  
  


\---

  
  


“Maggie.”

“No.”

“Mia.”

“No.”

“Margaret.”

“Isn’t that the same as Maggie?”

“Well, I mean. I don’t really know. Someone could be named Maggie from birth.”

“Oh. Well, still no.”

Adrien frowned down at the table he was wiping down, thinking hard. Two tables down, Ladybug was sweeping the ground, humming softly to herself. 

“Mmmmm…” He trailed off, trying to think of another ‘m’ name. He snapped his fingers. “Michelle!”

“Nope.”

He groaned, slouching over a chair and looking up at the darkening sky. “Melanie,” he tried. “Melody. Millie. Miriam. Mmm… Maria.”

“No to all of those,” she said, and Adrien let out another noise of frustration. She paused in her sweeping, leaning her hands on the top of the broomstick and resting her chin on her hands. She tilted her head at him, eyes alight with amusement. “You’re a stubborn kitty, aren’t you?”

Adrien smiled back at her, feeling the gentle summer air connect the space between them. “I’m going to get it. I’m swearing it.”

  
  


\---

  
  


Tikki furrowed her eyebrows at the windows, rain droplets pattering onto the glass and slipping down to the ground. “Plagg, what did the weather report say?”

Plagg absently worried at his teeth with a toothpick, giving her a shrug. “Something about more rain until nightfall.”

Thunder sounded, close and booming, and Tikki’s frown deepened.

“I’m winning,” Chat said, and Marinette looked back at him. In the two seconds that she hadn’t been paying attention to him, his card tower was three tiers taller than hers.

“What? No, that’s cheating,” Marinette said, fully aware that he was playing fair.

“Not my fault you’re letting down your guard,” Chat said, and Marinette rolled her eyes, trying her best to catch up quickly without knocking down her tower.

“I won,” Chat said, stupidly smug, and Marinette looked up from her own tower to see that he was, unfortunately, right.

“No, you didn’t,” Marinette said, reaching over and flicking the base of his tower. It fell within a millisecond.

“Now _that’s_ cheating,” he said, reaching his hand over to knock her tower down, but she grabbed his hand before he could, laughing and trying to push him back.

“It was the wind!” she said, and he cackled.

“Is that what we’re calling your finger now?”

“You can’t see, but I’m sticking my tongue out at you.”

Their wrestling arms brushed against her card tower. It crumpled into just a simple pile of cards.

“Now we’re even,” Chat said, and Marinette flicked a card at him.

“As cute as you two are,” Tikki said, and they both looked over at her, “I think it’s probably best for you to go home.” She finished typing on her phone - no doubt posting a picture of the card tower carnage with a caption about rainy days - and smiled a little sadly at them. “Since the rain isn’t letting up any time soon, there’s nothing for you two to do here. We’re just going to close up early for the day.”

“What about deliveries and pickups?” Marinette asked, and Tikki drummed her fingers on her phone.

“Well-”

“She just wants to go home and start binging her favorite show,” Plagg interrupted, tossing his toothpick into the trash can. “The new season just dropped today.”

Marinette and Chat looked back at Tikki. She laughed a little sheepishly.

“That may be true,” she admitted with a shrug. “But you two deserve a day off, too! Plagg and I will take care of cleaning, and everything, so-”

“We’ll do _what?”_ Plagg asked, his nose wrinkling up, and Tikki looked back at him, smile turning dangerous.

“Cleaning. We’re taking caring of the cleaning,” she repeated, quite firmly, before turning back to Marinette and Chat, her smile infinitely more kind. “So you two just head home and enjoy your evening off, okay?”

“If you say so,” Marinette said with a shrug, beginning to gather up the cards and put them back in the box.

She and Chat took off their aprons and said their goodbyes to Tikki and Plagg, who were already beginning to bicker about cleaning - Tikki was winning, of course. 

They walked to the back entrance of the cafe, and Marinette grabbed her purse while Chat grabbed his umbrella that he’d apparently brought in the morning from where it was leaning against the wall. He opened up the door, and they stepped out under the awning.

Marinette eyed Chat’s umbrella enviously, looking back up at the dark gray sky which didn’t seem to be letting up on the rain any time soon. She could wait it out, or she could run to the bus stop - it wasn’t too far.

“You didn’t bring an umbrella?” Chat asked, and Marinette shook her head, holding her hand out and catching a few rain droplets on the palm of her hand.

“Nope. I woke up late and forgot to check the weather.”

Chat laughed, opening up the plain black umbrella.

For a moment, she thought he was going to just leave it at that - say his goodbye and offer condolences on being umbrella-less. 

But then he offered the umbrella to her.

“It’s alright,” he said, green eyes soft. “I can call- Well. I can call someone to pick me up. So you can just take the one I have.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? You’re not just saying that?”

He laughed, pushing the umbrella closer to her. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“If I take this umbrella and go, you won’t be stranded here?” she asked, and she saw his smile push up against his eyes, bright and gentle.

“Nope. Pinky swear.”

Marinette watched him for a moment longer, just to check that he wasn’t lying. “Fine,” she finally said, reaching out to take the umbrella. Their hands brushed against each other - a jolt of familiar electricity.

Distantly, thunder sounded.

Under his umbrella, she tilted her head at him. The golden hair. The gentle green eyes. The sound of his voice.

The umbrella closed, the plain black flaps closing her in.

And then - laughter.

Pretty laughter, tripping over itself and bright. She knew that laugh. It was Chat’s, but it was also…

He lifted the flap of the umbrella, peeking under to catch her eye. 

“Marinette,” he said, so sure, and her heart bounded across her ribcage, giddy.

She pressed the button to open up the umbrella, and it opened up around them - the world and the rain and everything else.

“Adrien,” she said, and his smile was so bright that she felt it spread to her own lips. He leaned his forehead against hers.

“I told you I would get it.”

**Author's Note:**

> listen. i need you to know that i wanted them to kiss, too. HOWEVER kissing isn't responsible right now!! they're being safe!!! forehead touching is pushing it but it's cute so im allowing it!!! when it's safe, they will smooch i promise
> 
> don't forget to check out [anna-scribbles](https://anna-scribbles.tumblr.com/) and her lovely [art](https://anna-scribbles.tumblr.com/post/624342423794040833/uhh-non-superhero-au-where-marinette-and-adrien) that inspired this fic!! and honestly, just check out her art in general because it's so so good
> 
> thank you so much for reading, and don't forget to wash your hands!!<3<3<3


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